Well, I’m a tad low on my Big Eats conquests this month. I was aiming for six, but with the holiday and all, I only managed to eke out four. But not to worry! I’ve got my final eats strategically mapped out for next month, and I’m confident I can get them all done before year end. I’m excited to share a recap in my final post of the year, including my favorite eats and some of the things I’ve learned along the way.

My favorite for this month is undoubtedly the amazing fresh baked bread from Tartine Bakery. I had actually never had a fresh loaf from there before…shocker, right? Well, it is quite an endeavor to get your hands on these things. They don’t start selling the bread until 4:00pm, and the bakery is across town from where I live. My thinking before was “why drive all the way across town for bread”? Um…because you NEED to drive across town for this bread. Well, and it helps when sweet friends, Megan and Charlie, personally deliver the bread for you!! Special thanks to Meg who braved the line just two days before Thanksgiving.

Caveat time! Caveat time! Gosh darn Flour + Water has not served their hen and liver pasta since it was originally featured earlier this year. Trust me on this…it came straight from the source…I emailed the restaurant. Nonetheless, Kevin and I enjoyed an insanely delicious dinner there, and opted for a couple different pastas, including the sunchoke ravioli shown in #2 above. Dude, their pasta is no joke. Get there quick. (Well, many of you have probably already been…we were a little late to the game).

I don’t know about you, but my handwriting skills have gone majorly downhill. It’s so rare that I write with an actual pen these days, and, when I do, it’s usually in the form of scribbled notes. But typing…well, that I can handle any day!

Print the words in the actual size and font you’d like to use on a plain piece of paper. Hold the paper up to the light or against a window to make it transparent. Line the tag up on the back side of the paper so that you get the word perfectly placed.

Then use small pieces of masking tape to hold the cards in place.

Then you just add the paper with the taped labels into your printer’s paper tray, and reprint right onto the labels. You’ll need to run a test piece of paper through your printer first to confirm which direction you should place the paper in. I do this by drawing an arrow on the test piece before I print, and then I see how the paper ends up when it comes out.

The 25 day Christmas countdown starts in just a few short days…does your family tradition include an advent calendar? My mom used to buy us an advent calendar every year, and I would salivate for that piece of daily chocolate. These days there are so many creative DIY advent calendars circulating through the blogosphere. Here are a few of my favorites…

With the arrival of our weekend house guests, I had grand plans to finally check out the Christmas Tree lighting in Union Square. After all, it was on my list of November Happenings.

It all seemed like a good idea…until we were running a little late…until we saw the masses of people…until we staked out a tiny piece of territory…until we could only see a small sliver of the show on the jumbotron…wah wah wahhhhhh.

But then an appearance by Santa Claus… a countdown…the crowd in unison…and suddenly an illuminated tree! It was a redeeming moment, but…I don’t know that I need to do it again (bah humbug!).